Late Innings

Again more on Matt Hobgood, I’m seeing glowing reviews on the kid. From AOL’s Fan House, who had a roundtable discussion on the draft with editors from the likes of Baseball America and such:

Klima said the Orioles might take some heat for picking Southern California prep righty Matt Hobgood at No. 5, but he liked the selection. He’s compared him to Matt Cain.

Wow, that’s a comparison I like, much better than the Sidney Ponson ones. Now was this really a “surprise” pick, or did the Orioles know what they were doing:

“I think they saw a right handed staff anchor, which is why they went for him,” Klima said. “I know they were on him pretty good all year. It wasn’t a fly-by-night sign-ability pick. They did like him. I’m sure they are thinking they have Brian Matusz (the No. 4 pick from last year) left and Hobgood from the right. Baltimore fans are surprised he went that high, but most people didn’t think he’d get out of the first 10.”

Just because Hobgood didn’t land in the first round of many “expert” mock drafts (sans Jim Callis) doesn’t mean that he was a sign-ability pressure pick (see Pittsburgh and Sanchez.) Hobgood has excellent peripherals, and if he gets a change up in his repitoire, he could be tough. As I said yesterday, hopefully he won’t wait until the eleventh hour to sign, and he can get into the Orioles’ system as soon as possible.

As it turns out, other teams wanted Hobgood too, since he would have easily been a Top 10 draft pick. I’m just surprised that he flew under the radar like he did. I guess Joe Jordan and his scouting staff know more about talent evaluation than the casual fan does. Now if Hobgood can be just as good as Cain, I’ll tip my glass to their front office.